The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-10-19

every county in the State. and holding
for day or two what is called and Az.
. ricultural Institute. This is a collec.
. tion and union of the farmers and the
J professors, in free talk about farming.
Its best methods, etc, in which the com
bination of the practical, hard sense of
the farmers, with the science of the
professors, together work out the most
beneficial results.
BOOK FARMING.
| Ard here / will say something of what
is called book farming. Some of our
farmers believe they know it all. There
is nothing worth knowing that they do
not alreadv possess. Some of our
book-farmers think they know it all,
and have contempt for the hard, COM
nonsense practice of the real farmer.
Both are wrong. 1t is the union of the
two which makes successful agriculture,
and whoever undertakes to run his farm
entirely on the ole idea or the other
viii tail, unless he has very rich, good
land.
THE A. AND NJ. COLLEGE.
This brings me TO the A. & NJ. College
at Starkville. | was not an original
Trussee. The College was located be-
fore | was Trustee; but from that
time till now, l have watched its prog
ress with satisfaction, not unmingled
with anxiety. 1t has, under its able
Faculty, succeeded beyond my expecta-
tions. I am going TO resign; not be-
cause | feel less interest in the College,
but because, l find my duties at Wash
ington pre- Jent me from attending the
meetings of the Beard of Trustees more
than once in two years. But am not
going to resign now, because there is
| Just now a storm of clamor against the
College. / intend to stay aboard and
| do my duty until the vessel arrives safe
| ly in port, or l will go down with it.
helped lay its corner stone Gas did my
| friend Burkitt), and so far as my aid Is
concerned, it shall have it till it needs
no further aid, or further attempt to aid
is vain and useless. | believed when it
was first inaugurated, it was necessary
| flctor in resuscitating the dead and dy-
ing interests of the farmers, and l be-
| lieve so yet. But
VARIOUS OBJECTIONS
are urged against it. One is, that we
see no good results from it yet. | admit
we do not see great deal; for it has
been in operation only seven years-and
probably, there has not been as yet, so
graduates. We have, in Mississippi,
| been so long planting in the spring and
| reaping all the results of our labors in
the fall, that we are disirc elm ed to adopt
those slow, yet certain measures, which
| can only mature, in years. On the con-
trary, we are so eager for results, that
we mortgage our crops before they are
planted, and thus anticipate by year,
at enormous interest and profits to
others, the fruits of our toll. Under
this system, we discard orchards, stock
raising, and regenerating our waste
lands, because we cannot get an immedi-
| ate benefit from them, But every stu
dent who goes out from the College will
know something of the science of agri-
culture, which he carnot fail to impart
to those around him, An intelligent
man is an eo lcato. wherever he goes.
s'The candle of knowledge cannot be hid
under a bushel." Besides, we need to
ha 7e agriculture taught in all the
schools o. the State, as is done in Eu-
rope. And where are we to get the
| teachers? But even in this short time
we are not without
PRACTICAL RESULTS
of great benefit. The College first started
creamery in the State. Now there
are dozen; and rore are being put up
As to the great profits of dairying, l will
speak hereaf 1r. Another objection is,
that but few can attend the College, and
'that it is taxing the many, for the ben
eft of the few" There is both force
and plausibility in this. But how is it
to be prevented unless we consent to go
on in retrogression until nobody is able
to attend the SCI ool? There are twice
as many desiring to attend the school,
and who anr ally apply, as can be taken.
We can remedy that by building an
other dormitory, and this, think, ought
to be done at once. 1t will cost about
twenty-five thousand dollars. We can
also enlarge the usefulness of the College
| by admitting none who will not declare
it to be their bona fde intention to be
| farmers. Remember, | DO not want a
boy who has gone there prevented from
doing whatever his inclination or inter-
ests dictate, after he leaves; but as 1t is
A FARMERS COLLEGE,
intended to advance their interest
and promote their welfare, l think
it would be well, as long as ac
commodations are insufficient, to give
the preference to those who want to be
farmers. 1t will obviate, also, to some
extent, this objection, if the Legislature
would require small tuition fee from
each attendant, to help keep up the Col
lege.
When l remember how many poor
and worthy boys have worked their way
through the College, am disinclined to
recommend this, and especially so, when
| know that every attendant at the Col
lege is the son of poor parents, and can,
with difficulty, get through with tuition
free; but if this objection be insisted on,
l think it would be better to charge the
fee than to give up the College; and
here | wish to call attention to a recem-
mendation of the Trustees in their re-
port to the Governor, about providing
for the education of one poor, working
farmer boy, from each county in the
State. by an appropriation, either from
the State or county treasury, of one hun
dred dollars for each of said boys. / am
strongly in favor of this. Let each boy
be taken from the field, and of condi-
ton, financially, which renders it impos
sible for him otherwise to go to the Col
lege. Let him be selected, by officials
acting under oath, to do impartial JUS
tice, and let there be no other test of
merit beyond good cha acter, but supe-
rior mental strength, whether he has ever
been to school or not. In this way, we
would meet the objection that the poor
cannot go, and we would do even better
than that-we would give a fair ch"nce
to the children of poor families to get a
start in the world.
l have been called "leveler,' and |
am; but / want to
LEVEL BY ELEVATION,
not by lifting up the hum
Bile and lowly-not putting down the
more fortunate. And after all, what is
government good for but to elevate and
advance the people? How much is it
worth if is to be perverted, as the Re-
publicans have perverted it, to giving
large fortunes by governmental favors, |
subsidies and grants, to those already |
over-rich, and leaving the poor to re-
main as they are.
There are other objections, which / |
cannot answer further than to say, that |
the College belongs to the people, as all |
the other State Colleges and Universi-
ties do. 1t is subject to their control. |
If anything in its management be
wrong, correct it. Correct it through
the Legislature; correct it by removing
us, the Trustees, and appointing others,
if you see proper. Don't destroy it for
fault here and there. Correct the
fault; make it more perfect, but by no
means destroy it It is just now begin
ming to be able to do good work. Con-
gress has given it (if the Legislature
will allow itl S15.000 a wear for the